Samsung Children's Museum

Yesterday the kids had a day off from school so my friend Kim and I headed up to the Children's Museum in Seoul - with our kids in tow, of course.  Despite the fact that there seemed to be several Korean schools there on field trips, we managed to time each floor just right and had it mostly to ourselves. 

 Of course the water play area was a hit.

 I just love his faces!

 Grace and Lilly

 The boys playing with the ball wall

 The music room

 Kim showing Grace how it's done

 I was really hoping these helmets wouldn't suck their brains out!

 The whole gang

Valerie and Noah, Lilly, Tristan, Kayden, Grace, Michael, and Lucas

 Learning about how people are different

 "Tiling" a bathroom - do we have a future interior designer on our hands?

Or will she be a chef?

I'm sure glad they don't do this with my pots and pans!

 Those are some tired boys!  The only one that made it through the whole day was Grace... only because she kept herself busy.

Another fabulous day with the Stafford crew!  So glad to have good friends here in Korea - It's wonderful how God places people in your life when you need them most.

Snow Day

We actually got enough snow yesterday and overnight to get a snow day.  Initially, I was thrilled to know that my day would start two hours later, and when I got up, I found that they had canceled school all together!  Yippee!  So, the kids and I took some time to go out and play. 

 Tristan thought we should build snow castles

 Attack!!!

 Why do they always throw snowballs at me??

 Attempting to build a snowman.  Unfortunately the snow was just too dry.

We all had a good time, even if we couldn't build a snowman or make very good snowballs.  After our fun in the snow we came in and warmed up with hot chocolate, grilled cheese sandwiches, and tomato soup.  You couldn't have asked for a better day!

Swimmer Girl

Grace decided that she wanted to try out the swim team - at least until we can find a ballet studio to get her involved in.  So today was her first swim practice, and the coach was nice enough to let her try it out before they both decided if it was a good fit. 

 Ready to go!

 Backstroke

She ended up doing 2-3 laps in a row by the end of practice, and the coaches were really impressed (as was I!)

  BONK! She forgot to count her strokes when she got to the flags.

Takin' a break - she worked really hard for an hour, and then the coach told her to get out and get a drink and take a little bit of a rest.

I was really proud of her today - made my heart swell a bit watching her.  I was a bit nervous (for both of us) because I was afraid that I would expect too much of her, and I was afraid that she'd get discouraged because she didn't swim as well as the other kids.  So I told her the story of my very first swim practice where I could barely make it to the other end of the pool doing doggie paddle, and ended up being a very good swimmer.  I had let the coaches know that at the end of the summer she was able to swim 25 meters without stopping, but it had been a while since she had been in the water.  I think they were both impressed with her ability and her potential and they would be happy to have her on the team.  Grace seems pretty excited about it, so we're making the commitment to swim for the Humphreys Hippos at least until the season is over in March, and then we'll go from there.  She'll have her first meet on the 22nd so we'll see how she fares against her competition.

Lotte World

In an effort to be better organized this year, I'm actually posting a blog about something that happened just yesterday!  Hopefully by posting things here and on Facebook in a timely manner I won't feel so overwhelmed and never want to post anything because it becomes such a major task.
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Yesterday after dropping David off at the airport, we headed over to Lotte World to help a friend celebrate his 6th birthday.  Lotte World is a theme park similar to Disneyland, except a large portion of it is indoors - which was wonderful seeing as it was a whoppin' 25 out yesterday!  Other than having to wait in line for long periods of time, it was great!  I think the adults complained about the wait more than the kids did though... 

The first thing we did when we got there was head to the ball pit.  The kids and I got there well after the others, and Kim had made reservations for 2:00 PM and we got there just in time.  The kids have such a great time in these places, and they got 45 minutes to run amok.

 I was feeling a bit targeted.

 Tristan sighting his "gun" in

 As you all know, my kids get gobs of attention everywhere they go, and today was no exception.

This man standing next to Grace filled her bag I don't know how many times.  As you might imagine, she didn't complain about that at all!

 On the other hand, Tristan had to fill his own bag.

 Having a little fun with the kids.  This was about the extent of my being able to ride rides.

 Tristan and Michael watching the bumper cars

 Oh how I wish I had one of these at home...

We took a "hot air balloon" ride around the park.  Here's a shot from the ceiling of the place.

 Yep, that's an ice skating rink down there.

 We made it downstairs in time for the parade - it was pretty spectacular.  Unfortunately, my pictures don't do it justice. 

This lady is teaching the kids how to dance.

We had a great time, and it was a good distraction after dropping David off, knowing that we won't be seeing him for 3 months.  How do you like that?  My wonderful husband leaves his wife and children alone in a foreign country for 3 months... during the bitter cold winter.  Humph.

Not really.  Well, it's all true, but we aren't upset with him about it.  He's off to a school in the DC area that will be great for his career, both in the military and civilian world, and we have some great friends here who we know will help us whenever we need anything.